What I want from SDCC

SDCC - The San Diego Comic-Con - is held at the end of July each year. As well as all lots of comic companies plugging their upcoming issues, or film makers doing the same with their releases, or indeed TV shows doing exactly the same thing, their are a number of toy companies present. Guess what they're up to? Yep, plugging their upcoming toys.

As well as announcing new toys, companies often have for sale toys exclusive to the conventions. In the past these were simple repaints of easily available toys - for example a figure might have a slightly different jacket, or whatever. More recently - and much to the annoyance of people who can't attend - the toys have been completely different to anything available in the shops.

Some companies have taken note of all the annoyed fans so have begun offering the toys for sale on their websites after the convention, such as on Matty Collector.

There's a pretty good list on AwesomeToyBlog, which is updated as new exclusives are announced. I'd like to say I read AwesomeToyBlog, but in all honesty I only check this one page. Naughty me.

Anyway, here are the things I want (note want, not will buy) that have been announced so far...



Masters of the Universe - Queen Marlena & Cringer

I collect Masters of the Universe Classics figures so it'd be a bit silly of me not to get this one. This is the first time the Queen of Eternia has ever been available as a figure so it's a little exciting. She comes with accessories to dress her up either in her spacesuit gear, or her royal robes and in addition comes with a little Cringer figure (he who becomes Battle Cat).

Ghostbusters - Marshmallow Man

This is a 'would like' rather than a 'must have' due to the price. This 20" figure costs $70, add on postage costs and the inevitable import tax and it's going to cost a fortune.

Voltron - Classic Voltron

This one is for my 4 year old son - assuming I can get hold of it. I went to Memorabilia just before Easter and they were handing out free Voltron DVDs. I'd never seen Voltron back in the day (the 'day' being the 80s) - I'm not sure it was especially 'big' in Britain. Anyway, my son insisted we watch and he's now become addicted. I'd happily get this for him but there is a problem: Mattel have put electronics in the box. This is great if you live in the US - the box plays the theme tune! - but Mattel won't ship it abroad due to issues with the electronics. This means to get hold of it I'll have to pay a fortune on ebay. Dammit.

Indiana Jones - 'Lost Wave'

When Crystal Skull came out, Hasbro launched an Indy toyline. They released a wave of figures for each of the films, and then announced one more for Raiders of the Lost Ark that was ultimately never released due to poor sales. This was disappointing as it contained 'important' figures such as Toht. However, thankfully Hasbro have now decided to release these figures as a SDCC exclusive. It's going to cost a fortune (it's 6 figures), but I'm definitely getting it to complete the collection.

DC Universe - Swamp Thing

I don't really read DC comics, but I do love the Alan Moore run of Swamp Thing so I was very excited when this figure was announced. It's supposed to have 'hidden' articulation, with all the joints beneath its rubbery skin. Rubbery skin? Yes, this is going to be a problem as shown by this photo released by Mattel which was supposed to show off how great the new articulation is.

See that tear at the wrist? That's what almost always happen to rubber on toys over time. So it's with regret that I'm going to pass on this one, I think.

That's the lot of those figures announced so far that I'm interested in. In addition, I'm keeping an eye out for what the Doctor Who exclusives are going to be and the Marvel Legends Thor figure, which has been announced but no photos revealed yet. If I suddenly find an extra load of money somewhere I'll try and get the GI Joe Starscream Skystriker, but I think really my wishlist is long enough already.

I'd better start saving.